Black Ops 2 prestige “is not a start over system”

Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar took to the Eurogamer Expo stage this afternoon. He spoke about the prestige system in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and how the studio is differentiating it from the rest.

“This is a very simple example of how we are damned if we do and damned if we do not. Looking back at these mechanics, play 55 levels, hit a button, get a new rank icon, start over,” he said.

“I’ve been thinking about it non-stop, about how to get people to prestige. We kept going about it the wrong way. We kept saying, here are some more rewards if you do it. Here is this extra stuff if you decide to hit the prestige button.”

“Then I looked at a graph of the people who play and what happens to them when they hit level 55 or whatever the max level is, and how they drop off, and how few people actually go to max prestige. I know they could go to max prestige because their time play suggests they could have. I have this data. I know this for a fact.”

“In Black Ops 2 prestige is not a start over system. When you prestige in Black Ops 2 it will not reset your weapon levelling. If you are level four on a gun you will still be level four when you cycle back around to that gun. Same with all your cosmetics, any camo you’ve unlocked or emblem, all the personalisation, all the fancy backgrounds you managed to achieve, all of that will still be there.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 developer Treyarch published a list of PC gun balancing notes this week, and it has triggered a spate of violence aimed at Treyarch’s design director David Vonderhaar. Activision’s Dan Amrich has blogged to call for an end of the violent threats.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’s multiplayer wizard David Vonderhaar has given insight into Treyarch’s gun balancing process, essentially stating that player feedback doesn’t really matter all that much, but that cold, hard maths is the answer to solid balance. Get more details below.